Reader’s Digest “Nicest Places in America” Official Rules

To nominate a place, you must be a legal U.S. resident age 13 or older at the time of participation and fill out the entry form with all required sections. The entry period will run until June 5, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. Reader’s Digest reserves the right to change this date at any time for any reason. Any change to the entry period will be posted here; please check this site for any change. Entries received after the period has ended will not be considered. Reader’s Digest is the official timekeeper for this promotion. Void where prohibited. Employees, officers and directors, and their immediate family members and members of their household (whether related or not), of Reader’s Digest, USA TODAY 10Best (“Administrator”), and each of their respective parent and affiliated companies and any promotion partner or agent are prohibited from nominating a place and from voting in this promotion.

To complete your entry, make sure to include great stories about all the people and organizations that make it a Nicest Place in America, following the instructions on the entry form. Pictures are required. And the more you send us, the better your entry! Photos and text in each submission must be the original work of entrant. Photographs must be submitted as small electronic files: They must be 1 MB maximum (500 pixels @72 dpi), JPEG format only. Name each file with the name of your place. Digital photos must meet these resolution requirements, necessary for publication.

Qualifying entries will be viewable on rd.com, and finalists will be viewable at 10Best.com. Entry qualification will be determined by the editors of Reader’s Digest. Qualified entries must meet minimum criteria, including but not limited to a fully completed entry in accordance with all requirements, an engaging description of the place, at least one engaging story that demonstrates what makes this place so nice, and at least one picture illustrating how nice this place is. Some entries may not appear on the sites. Reader’s Digest and Administrator reserve the right to remove content at any time and for any reason. Editors’ decisions on qualifying entries, finalists and the winner are final.

What constitutes a “nicest” place? It’s a place where the people believe in kindness, civility, and each other, neighbors help each other out, and strangers are welcomed as friends. And, for the sake of this promotion, each “place” must be a physical location in the United States (for example, a town, neighborhood, building, park, or a particular establishment etc.) and each entrant must designate the place with a single Zip code even if the place includes multiple zip codes. Motor vehicles, trains, boats and other conveyances will also be considered but must have a home Zip code attached to them.

Once the entry period is over, Reader’s Digest editors will select 10 finalists from the qualifying nominees. The finalists and winners will be chosen by a panel of Reader’s Digest editors in their sole judgment. The process may include an online vote; if so, the voting terms and conditions will be posted on this site. Reader’s Digest editors will consider a possible voting tally and other factors they deem relevant, including but not limited to embodiment of the spirit of niceness and the kindness of the people in the place, in determining the winner. The finalists will be announced within or about 2 weeks after the end of the entry period. The winner will be announced within or about 4 weeks after the announcement of the finalists.

Reader’s Digest and Administrator are not liable for any malfunctions or failures of any telecommunications or computer network, computer internet system, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, traffic congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer, mobile or any other device and/or its contents related to or resulting from participation in or downloading/uploading any materials relating to this promotion, or other technical difficulties or failures or other errors of any kind.

You can enter as many places as you want up to five entries per person/per day, and you can also create multiple entries for each place. By entering, you agree to these Official Rules. In the event of entry via a mobile device, Message and Data charges may apply.

Here are some important entry requirements:

Each submission must not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity. Except as may be prohibited by applicable law, you grant Reader’s Digest, Administrator, and their respective licensees unrestricted rights to use, publish, adapt, amend, modify, translate, reproduce and distribute your entry worldwide in all print and electronic media, now or hereafter existing, in any language, without time limitation, and the right to use your name, hometown (e.g., city and state), likeness and/or information about you in connection therewith (including for advertising and trade purposes) without compensation or authorization. Your entry may be cropped or edited for brevity and clarity, at the discretion of the editors of Reader’s Digest or Administrator. All entries and other materials submitted in connection with this promotion may not contain any material that is obscene, defamatory, offensive or otherwise objectionable.

By participating, you agree to the terms of the Official Rules and to receive promotional emails in accordance with the privacy policies of Reader’s Digest and Administrator. You can opt-out of the receipt of such emails by following the directions in any promotional email received. By participating in this promotion, each entrant agrees to fully release, forever discharge and hold harmless Reader’s Digest and Administrator from and against all claims, costs, liabilities, losses, injuries, and damages arising out of this promotion, including, but not limited to, any claims for personal injury, death or damage to or loss of property or any other harm arising out of entrant’s participation in the promotion, or any travel or activity that is related to the promotion. This promotion is sponsored by Reader’s Digest, and Reader’s Digest reserves the right to terminate or modify the promotion at any time for any reason.